Black Witch (Fantaghiro)
The Black Witch (Brigitte Nielsen) is a villain in the Fantaghirò ''series. She is the main villain of the 1992 Italian fantasy TV film ''Fantaghiro 2 (also known as The Cave of the Golden Rose 2) and then returns as a supporting character in the 1993 film Fantaghiro 3 and the 1994 film Fantaghiro 4. She then comes back briefly as a different character in the 1996 film, Fantaghiro 5. Each of the films is divided into two parts. The Black Witch is also known as the Dark Witch, the Black Queen, and (in Italian) Strega Nera / Reina Nera. She is a beautiful but wicked, cruel, and scheming woman who wields black magic and hates everything that is good. She is initially the mistress of Bolt (Lenca Kubalkova) and Lightning (Jakub Zdenek), as well as the ruler of the Dark Kingdom. She soon becomes a sworn enemy of Princess Fantaghiro (Alessandra Mertines). In the Fantaghiro animated series, she was renamed as Princess Kyra '''(or '''Kira), also known as the Black Witch. Fantaghiro 2 (1992) Narrator: "Once upon a time and a long time ago there was a queen. But she was not a queen like any other: the Black Queen was the most cruel, the meanest, the most ruthless. In short, it was the witchest of all the queens we know of." n Fantaghiro 2, the Black Witch hears news of the wedding of Princess Fantaghiro and Prince Romualdo (Kim Rossi Stuart). She therefore sends her young apprentice Bolt to spy on them. The Dark Witch, makes it her mission to destroy their love affair. In this movie, the Dark Witch is tall, buxom, and very much aware of her beauty, especially proud of her breasts. She wears dark and revealing dresses that emphasize her attractiveness and stature, which fits her role as a seductress. Her headgear is either a black helmet shaped like a bird's head (with no hair visible) or a tall silver crown over long red hair. The Dark Witch has no power in Fantaghiro's kingdom, but within her own land she is a powerful witch. She can bring toy soldiers to life so that they can serve her as an army. Her first act is to attack and kidnap Fantaghiro's father the King, which disrupts the wedding. When Romualdo and his army arrive near the Dark Castle, the Dark Witch takes the form of Princess Fantaghiro and visits Romualdo's tent. She tricks Romualdo into kissing her and he collapses. She then brings him back to the castle where he sleeps, and his memory of Fantaghiro is slowly erased from his mind. When this is accomplished, the Dark Witch wakes him up at night in a bed in her castle. He calls her his "mistress" and "beloved" and despite her denials of feelings, she also falls for the handsome shirtless prince. They start kissing passionately as they spend a night together. The Dark Witch allows Fantaghiro to enter her castle, where she finds Romualdo totally infatuated with the Dark Witch. Bolt and her brother Lightning conspire against their mistress, tricking her into drinking poison that makes her fall asleep, and then releases all of Romualdo's men. Fantaghiro and her minions overpower Romualdo and make their escape, but the Dark Witch wakes up just in time to stop Romualdo and Fantaghiro from leaving the borders fo the Dark Kingdom. The Dark Witch and Fantaghirò then have a battle of wits, where Fantaghirò appeals to her sense of pride, getting her to change into various forms. The Dark Witch falls for this ruse, transforming into a crystal statue that Fantaghirò smashes with her Come-Back-Again-Stone. But unknown at the time, a piece of the Dark Witch survives the destruction of her physical form, entering Romualdo's head. Fantaghirò attempts to get Romualdo to remember who they are and their love for each other. Romualdo almost succeeds, and that is when he feels a terrible pain in his head and the Dark Witch reveals herself to have survived. She viciously transforms Fantaghirò into a new form in the hopes that Romualdo will never love her again. But then the White Witch (Katarina Kolajova) appears and shoots a magical arrow, a transformed Bolt, which kills the Dark Witch. Fantaghiro 2 gallery Darkwitch03.png screenshot_5477.png hqdefault witch.jpg screenshot_5468.png screenshot_5469.png La-Strega-Nera.jpg screenshot_5478.png screenshot_5479.png screenshot_5480.png screenshot_5481.png screenshot_5482.png screenshot_5470.png screenshot_5483.png screenshot_5484.png screenshot_5485.png fantaghiro_2_7.jpg Fantaghirò_2.png screenshot_5486.png screenshot_5487.png Dia_03.jpg screenshot_5489.png screenshot_5490.png screenshot_5491.png screenshot_5492.png 5853eca81d0c48e4f1f63c53bc73ee3a.jpg 18924734.jpg screenshot_5495.png 1280x720-cju.jpg hqdefault-2.jpg hqdefault-12.jpg screenshot_5496.png screenshot_5497.png screenshot_5499.png screenshot_5500.png screenshot_5501.png screenshot_5502.png screenshot_5473.png screenshot_5505.png screenshot_5506.png Fantaghir_torna_in_tv.jpg Schwarze_Königin.jpg screenshot_5507.png screenshot_5508.png screenshot_5509.png screenshot_5511.png screenshot_5512.png screenshot_5513.png screenshot_5514.png Fantaghiro 3 (1993) Bolt and Lightning recover pieces of the Dark Witch from where she was destroyed in the first film. The broken pieces have turned into rocks that are darker and smoother than regular rocks. They bring the pieces to Fantaghirò, and with a little bit of cloud dust, revive the head so she can talk. As just a head, the Dark Witch has a golden helmet with a straight horn in the front, with no hair visible. Fantaghirò wants to know how to revive Romualdo, who has been turned to stone. The Dark Witch tells her that it needs an Impossible Kiss, which Fantaghirò needs to get from the one who cast the spell, i.e. Tarabas (Nicholas Rogers). Lightning quickly turns the Dark Witch's head back to stone once they get this information. Later the Dark Witch is fully revived because Fantaghirò needs her help fighting Tarabas. Lightning and Bolt get all the pieces and then puts them back together with the magic dust. In this form, the Dark Witch wears a long dress with a large collar, and a headress with a horn worn at the front of short, black hair. The Dark Witch agrees to help Fantaghirò in exchange for one vital piece that she needs, her heart, which Lightning is keeping hold of. The Dark Witch then tries to train Fantaghirò in the ways of black magic, but she is too kind-hearted and good. The Dark Witch follows them on their quest to find Tarabas anyway, because she has always wanted to meet him, but once they find his lair she is shut out, because Tarabas only wants to meet Fantaghirò. After Fantaghirò obtains the Impossible Kiss, the Dark Witch agrees to bring it to Romualdo to revive him. However, she breaks her promise, keeping the Impossible Kiss to herself, and only offering to give it back in exchange for her heart. The Dark Witch gets her heart back and eagerly swallows it. Fantaghiro 3 gallery screenshot_5515.png screenshot_5516.png screenshot_5518.png screenshot_5519.png screenshot_5520.png Darkwitch04.png screenshot_5521.png screenshot_5522.png screenshot_5523.png screenshot_5524.png screenshot_5525.png screenshot_5526.png screenshot_5527.png screenshot_5528.png screenshot_5529.png screenshot_5530.png screenshot_5531.png screenshot_5532.png screenshot_5533.png 1aacee98cba8a1e5b6436ed0a2e11e84.jpg screenshot_5534.png screenshot_5535.png screenshot_5537.png 5ab27777c7.jpg Fantaghiro-and-the-Black-Witch-fantaghiro-24260456-1500-1075.jpg screenshot_5538.png screenshot_5539.png screenshot_5541.png Dark_Witch_4.png screenshot_5545.png screenshot_5546.png brigitte-interpreta-la-strega-nera-in-fantaghiro-4-168067.jpg screenshot_5547.png Fantaghiro 4 (1994) The Dark Witch is living underground in Tarabas' former lair, trying to regain her dark powers. They have not come back to fullness because she had helped Fantaghirò, and every spell she tries somehow turns out good by accident, such as turning things into flowers. The Gnomes taunt her for this, and attempt to kill her. The Dark Witch retreats to her inner sanctum, humiliated and fearful for her life. The Dark Witch discovers the remnants of the evil witch Xellesia, the White Queen, inside the furnace where she had died. Xellesia (Ursula Andress) promises to help the Dark Witch regain her powers, in exchange for helping revive Xellesia back to life. The Dark Witch agrees. The Dark Witch fails in her spells again, when she turns herself into a turkey. Once again, the Dark Witch is humiliated, and Xellesia has to change her back into the witch. The two fly on brooms to travel together to find Tarabas, who is working together with Fantaghirò investigating the mysterious Black Cloud. Xellesia is crushed to death while trying to go through a cave, but in doing so, the rest of the party is spared the crushing death. Fantaghiro 4 gallery Dark_Witch_4.jpg screenshot_5548.png screenshot_5549.png screenshot_5550.png screenshot_5552.png screenshot_5553.png screenshot_5554.png screenshot_5555.png screenshot_5556.png screenshot_5557.png screenshot_5558.png screenshot_5559.png screenshot_5560.png screenshot_5561.png screenshot_5562.png screenshot_5563.png screenshot_5564.png Fantaghiro 5 (1996) The Dark Witch, still stripped of most of her magical powers, hopes that killing someone so good and noble (performing any act of extreme evil) as Fantaghirò can let her retrieve them with this. She captures Fantaghirò and plans to execute her. Fantaghiro is tied up, and then her head is put on the block to be chopped off by the Dark Witch and her large blade. However, a bright light encircles Fantaghiro, which is said to be a magical mandrake root. It is sent by the good which Asteria (Mchaela May), and she escapes from her dungeon to an alternate world. In this other world, there is a cannibalistic pirate known only as "Nameless" (Remo Girone) who has attacked a peaceful kingdom with an army of fruit-men in order to kidnap and devour the inhabitant's who are children. Asteria then morphs into the wicked Dark Witch for a time. At the end fo the film, the Dark Witch transforms back into Asteria, and it is found that the magical root can no longer bring Fantaghiro back to her own kingdom. Fantaghiro 5 gallery screenshot_5566.png screenshot_5567.png screenshot_5568.png screenshot_5569.png screenshot_5570.png screenshot_5571.png screenshot_5572.png screenshot_5573.png screenshot_5574.png screenshot_5575.png screenshot_5576.png screenshot_5577.png screenshot_5578.png screenshot_5579.png screenshot_5580.png screenshot_5581.png screenshot_5583.png screenshot_5584.png screenshot_5585.png screenshot_5586.png Cartoon In the animated series, Kyra the Black Witch is an evil witch-queen who has been a princess of the kingdom of Tuan but now worships and serves the terrible demon Darken (also losely based on a character from the film series). She is the source of the hunger, disease, hatred and war in Romualdo's kingdom of Dana. The Black Witch seeks to gain eternal youth, defeat her rival Fantaghiro, and marry Prince Romualdo. But, in the end, she teams up with Fantaghiro who saves her from Darken's treachery to destroy him. Cartoon gallery Kyra_Fantaghiro.png|Young Kyra Kyra Fantaghiro 3.png Kyra Fantaghiro 2.png BWFC01.png BWFC02.png BWFC03.png BWFC04.png BWFC05.png BWFC06.png BWFC07.png BWFC08.png BWFC09.png BWFC10.png BWFC11.png BWFC12.png BWFC14.png BWFC15.png BWFC16.png BWFC17.png BWFC18.png BWFC19.png BWFC21.png BWFC23.png BWFC24.png BWFC25.png BWFC26.png BWFC27.png BWFC28.png BWFC29.png BWFC30.png BWFC31.png BWFC32.png BWFC33.png BWFC34.png BWFC35.png BWFC36.png BWFC37.png BWFC38.png BWFC39.png BWFC40.png BWFC41.png BWFC42.png BWFC43.png BWFC44.png BWFC45.png BWFC46.png BWFC47.png BWFC48.png BWFC49.png BWFC51.png BWFC52.png BWFC53.png BWFC54.png BWFC55.png BWFC56.png BWFC57.png BWFC58.png BWFC59.png BWFC60.png BWFC61.png BWFC62.png BWFC63.png BWFC64.png BWFC65.png BWFC66.png BWFC67.png BWFC68.png BWFC69.png BWFC70.png Trivia *Brigitte Nielsen appeared as Ludmilla Vobet Drago in the 1985 movie Rocky IV. *Brigitte Nielsen appeared as Karla Fry in the 1987 movie Beverly Hills Cop II. *Brigitte Nielsen appeared as Magda Kassar in the 1993 movie Chanied Heat II. *Brigitte Nielsen appeared as Dr. Rachel K. Larkin in the film Mission of Justice. *Brigitte Nielsen appeared as Ulrika in the 2014 film Mercenaries. External links *Fantaghiro Wiki entry Category:1990s Category:2000s Category:Back from the Dead Category:Bondage Used By Villainess Category:Brunette Category:Cape Category:Corset or Bustier Category:Crown Category:Evil Laugh Category:Femme Fatale Category:High Heels Category:Humiliated Category:Leather Category:Live Action Villainess Category:Long Skirts & Dresses Category:Low Cut Top Category:Near-Villainess Victory Category:Open Side Dress Category:Princess Category:Feathers Category:Queen Category:Redhead Category:Sadist Category:Seat Of Authority Category:Stockings or Nylons Category:Supernatural Powers Category:Turned into Object or Animal Category:Tyrant Category:Vain Category:Western Animation Villainess Category:Witch Category:Woman Kills Villainess Category:Defeated By Magic Category:Fate: Karma Houdini